A Pinball Table
But not just any pinball table...
Here's a calculator you won't see very often, but they do appear on Ebay from time to time.
Approximately 8 inch x 4 inch x 5 inch tall, has folding legs and is solar powered.
The following information is suggested from my research and are therefore not guaranteed facts.
This was a promotional item for the tour of The Who's Tommy, Original Cast (1992 Broadway Revival).
The Tommy calculator is based on the Fireball calculator.
The Fireball calculator I recently acquired came with its original box.
The only information on the box is "Made in Taiwan" and a sticker marked "YP032 Pinball Calculator".
I have seen another box which had a Xonex sticker, Xonex being a calculator repair service in Ohio.
The Fireball has painted sides marked "Flipper Pool" but I am aware of at least one other variant
where the sides are painted "Fireball". Both have a Fireball panel around the LCD. Maybe one day
I will come across a version for sale with "Fireball" on the sides.
Both the Fireball and Tommy calculators I have, have "Patent Pending 1991" moulded into the base.
As can be seen in the images below, the Tommy calculator uses a slightly different LCD panel,
the Fireball having a "grid" and the Tommy slightly taller digits.
It has been suggested that the Tommy calculator was a very small production run of maybe 100
calculators produced for employees of Data East and given out during a Christmas party in about
1994 or 1995. It was a "standard" calculator, based on the Fireball, that was specially customised
to look very similar to the full sized machine. Both the calculator and full sized pinball
have the Data East logo at the top of each side.
In addition to the customised painted sides, the Tommy calculator has two labels. A gloss finish
label on the rear and a matt finish label underneath, both printed "THE WHO'S TOMMY ORIGINAL CAST RECORDING"
and "RCA VICTOR" with the HMV (His Master's Voice) logo (Nipper listening to a gramophone).
This set of images © Barry Smith, 2017
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